The game itself is okay. It certainly isn't the best SimCity game, but it's a good place to start on an update for the franchise.

The inability for Maxis/EA to keep it's required servers online, however, is a deal breaker. The game can't even be opened unless it phones home to Maxis and then stays connected throughout the gameplay. This presents a major problem when Maxis has simplyThe game itself is okay. It certainly isn't the best SimCity game, but it's a good place to start on an update for the franchise.

The inability for Maxis/EA to keep it's required servers online, however, is a deal breaker. The game can't even be opened unless it phones home to Maxis and then stays connected throughout the gameplay. This presents a major problem when Maxis has simply failed at keeping these servers online.

The game has been unplayable for days. This is an unacceptable way to treat your customers. Maxis should be ashamed.…Expand

This is the second game that I've bought from EA and will be the last. There is absolutely no excuse for the totally unplayable state of the game at launch which is purely due to the ridiculous DRM safeguards that ES seemed compelled to implement for no legitimate reason.
I will be returning my copy to EB Games first thing tomorrow morning. I have played a lot of games at launch. SomeThis is the second game that I've bought from EA and will be the last. There is absolutely no excuse for the totally unplayable state of the game at launch which is purely due to the ridiculous DRM safeguards that ES seemed compelled to implement for no legitimate reason.
I will be returning my copy to EB Games first thing tomorrow morning. I have played a lot of games at launch. Some have had their lag and connection issues. World of Warcraft and Diablo 3 spring to mind. None have even come close to being as truly awful as SIm City.
If telling people the game will be largely unplayable for them at this point of time counts as a spoiler maybe I should tick the box.…Expand

Probably the worst global release of a game in the history of gaming. Always on DRM would be ok if they didnt pinch pennies and actually had the infastructure to support their product. They dont and as such this game is a failure at launch. I am not sure it will recover.

Have yet to be able to actually play the goddamn tutorial. EA, if you want to implement always-online DRM, fine, but then YOU are responsible for providing enough F***ING SERVERS!! You had the sales numbers, the pre-orders, there is absolutely NO excuse for this!

Everything good about the simcity games removed and replaced with an unplayable multiplayer. No deep simulation, the best road layout is 1 snaking road with no intersections, glassbox is just a big cop out to produce a half arsed game. R.I.P Simcity.

Most of us remember the 1984 Apple advert, directed by Ridley Scott, showing Microsoft as a big brother-like figure, abusing consumer's rights. Flash-forward a couple of decades... it seems more like a depiction of EA and their DRM policy. Remember, remember the days when the games you bought actually belonged to you! Don't tolerate this non-sense from EA. They are greedy trend-settersMost of us remember the 1984 Apple advert, directed by Ridley Scott, showing Microsoft as a big brother-like figure, abusing consumer's rights. Flash-forward a couple of decades... it seems more like a depiction of EA and their DRM policy. Remember, remember the days when the games you bought actually belonged to you! Don't tolerate this non-sense from EA. They are greedy trend-setters that will make this the norm for computer games one day. Consoles are already on this slippery slope. Remind EA that your money is in their bank account. This is a good game ruined by a fat-cat corporation. Their DRM is not just for piracy protection. Spore was pirated before it was even released so the DRM does nothing to curb piracy. Yes, this review sounds political but just compare the computer game industry to what it was 20 years ago, and also keep in mind the gaming industry makes more money than the film industry. Gaming is big! And you pretty much get told how to play your games these days…Expand

ATTENTION!!! Do not buy this game!! I wish someone had notified me before I wasted my money on this garbage, so hopefully I can help someone else out. I've just wasted 6 hours of my life trying to get this game to work properly and there is no hope. For those who are skeptical, just google "SimCity Servers" or "Simcity Problems". The critic reviews must have been based on a versionATTENTION!!! Do not buy this game!! I wish someone had notified me before I wasted my money on this garbage, so hopefully I can help someone else out. I've just wasted 6 hours of my life trying to get this game to work properly and there is no hope. For those who are skeptical, just google "SimCity Servers" or "Simcity Problems". The critic reviews must have been based on a version that did not require online connectivity through Origin and it's servers.

Strike 1- If you've ever played any SimCity, you know that it is a single player game and there is really no need for internet access.

Strike 2- If EA was going to force the online DRM on us, they should have at least made sure that you can actually get online... You can't, I can't, and no one has been able to since the game launched days ago.

Strike 3- It would be nice if you could save the game so you could save what little progress you might make before the game fails. Of course, you cannot even save the game when you want to. Strike, er 4?- Adding insult to injury, one must complete the tutorial before getting to actual gameplay. Since you cannot get through the tutorial without the game crashing and cannot save your progress, you are perpetually stuck replaying the first 5 minutes of the tutorial... Awful.

To heck with it, Strike 5- EA should at least be communicating honestly with purchasers/customers about the errors rather than posting blatant lies about how only a small percentage is unable to play and ridiculous excuses on why its not working or how its being fixed and when.

Programmed as quick money grab with poor game mechanics. If you can play this game at all because of the poor always online servers you'll find yourself in an oversimplified version of SimCity 4 with comical graphics. This game takes you by the hand and does the thinking for you. Being Mayor of a city? More like being major dump!

Take £45 out your pocket and burn it, at least you will get some warmth. My point is, this game is unplayable and a total waste of cash. The server issues due to online DRM ensure that you wont be able to play this game. No point reviewing this any further, its just unplayable.

I also wanted to write a review on here because my frustration reached the maximum level it could ever reach. I am normally a calm person. I normally never rage. But this release is my personal disappointment of the year. I can even predict that nothing 2013 will disapoint me more, because what simcity did is the worst "design-mistake" someone can actually do.

1.
Small Cities.I also wanted to write a review on here because my frustration reached the maximum level it could ever reach. I am normally a calm person. I normally never rage. But this release is my personal disappointment of the year. I can even predict that nothing 2013 will disapoint me more, because what simcity did is the worst "design-mistake" someone can actually do.

1.

Small Cities.

Maxis is lieing at us saying that bigger cities arent possible because of performance restrictions the engine gives us. Thats wrong. The real problem is their DRM always online stuff. They save our cities locally on THEIR servers. Youre not able to create a local savegame. If we would be able to have local savegames, the game would actually easily run on 10 times bigger cities. But because they had to bring in their always online DRM protection they accept smaller cities wich results in a much smaller long-term fun level.

2.

Savegames.

Savegames on their servers? Why? To sync your city region to the other players? Thats maybe a good thing but it's implemented poorly. Sometimes you just disconnect from a server or they have a maintenance running. If you continue playing now have fun seeing your city rolled back hours when you reload your savegame later. Or the savegame is gone fully. Why not create some kind of backup savegame locally? That could'nt be too hard. Just sync it with the online servers the next time you login.

3.

Server capacities.

They try to fix the problem by adding more and more servers. They actually know that this wont help at all. Why? Simple: The single server capacity is just not enough. I've read in a post that one server can take about 90.000 people. Ive no clue if thats true. I dont even care. But even if a server is able to take half a million players, it will result in problems. Always. What they are aiming for is was your money. Now they have it they wait until a few players drop the game because they are frustrated. On Twitter they only answer to "lol look at my city". Like everything's fine. Then, sometimes they say "Hey look theres a new server online! Check it out!". You enter the server and you see the next worst possible design idea ever: The savegames are'nt even synced to other servers. You have to begin a new Savegame on every single server. If your server is full (lets say 90k people play on it), you come back from work and just want to play simcity for another hour you just simply cant. Well you can.. begin a new city. But you can not continue your current city. What the hell Maxis, what the hell.

4.

"Experts".

These people call themselves experts developing such games. Why. Why the hell are these people even allowed to be called like that. Not thinking about the single server capacity why are they miscalculating the load on the first few days? Why are they panicing NOW when its much too late that theres not enough server capacity. Why are they acting like its a big problem to bring up a few more servers online within just one day? Well, if they are doing it right the only thing should actually be setting up a simple server and run their server software wich registers another server in some central server so the players are able to see it. I bet they are'nt even able to do that. They did some hypercomplicated piece of non optimized software. I am pretty sure.

5.

The game will never run properly.

Why? Simply because this kind of game is not able to work out properly. Savegames will disappear as soon as theres a maintenance. And there will always be one. Your cities roll back. You come back from work and your server is crowded. You cannot play. You probably find the time to play it once a week. If youve the time your server is just full and you're done with it. Next week the same. Also: An offline patch is probably not even possible because of their weird system. It would take "too much efford" to make a singleplayer game singleplayer (offline). If youve a nice savegame on a server wich is usually more crowded you can actually forget about it. You will never have fun with this savegame anymore. Savegame port on another server is not possible. Its also not syncing as said earlier.

6.

The game itself.

The game itself is also actually poorly made, mainly because of these small cities, wich could be soooo pretty and big but because of DRM and online restrictions they will never be able to reach a proper size.
The game feels pretty okay but if you play it for more than two hours you can easily realise how poorly it's made im a coder myself i know alot about whats cheap and whats not Simcity shall be called a pretty facebook game thats it.

7.

I've had trust in them to make it properly.

But this once again shows me has proven me that even multi billion companies are not able to properly create a good and also brainful online experience. Never again. Never.…Expand

The score of EA is always 0, Un-installed Origin few months after Fifa12.
I'll never buy EA games again, and i'm sorry, i can't play SimCity but if a take a look, to the amazing score in red, I do not mind at all.
EA always buy "Critic Reviews", so this type of journalism is for kids. Pathetic ...
Thanks to Gabe Newell and Steam, If the perspectives of PC gaming are reallyThe score of EA is always 0, Un-installed Origin few months after Fifa12.
I'll never buy EA games again, and i'm sorry, i can't play SimCity but if a take a look, to the amazing score in red, I do not mind at all.

EA always buy "Critic Reviews", so this type of journalism is for kids. Pathetic ...

Thanks to Gabe Newell and Steam, If the perspectives of PC gaming are really different than a few years ago.

In the while EA ask 80$ for an epic fail since day 1, just as evidence of how ridiculous they are. I hope that everyone, sooner or later, will be aware of this.

We should have a zero-tolerance and boycott any software which is essentially an $80 rental that comes with intrusive spyware, always-online DRM.

One of the most frustrating experience I ever had. Can't change my "game name", can't join to region, even can't play my saved cities if servers are unaccessible. SimCity franchise is now dead for me, after 'SimCity Societes' and this piece of... something I will never buy this title again.

No excuse for utterly broken always-online DRM and forced "Cloud saves" (i.e. you can't save and reload cities to experiment, a cornerstone of the franchise) for what is fundamentally a single player game.

This game is a mess. It's a mélange of poorly implemented bad ideas. For starters it's designed around region play. So you get to build a city and trade resources and services with other cities. That's a pretty good idea, and it was implemented rather successfully in Simcity 4, so it makes sense to add an online multiplayer aspect to that portion of the game. However, intercity tradeThis game is a mess. It's a mélange of poorly implemented bad ideas. For starters it's designed around region play. So you get to build a city and trade resources and services with other cities. That's a pretty good idea, and it was implemented rather successfully in Simcity 4, so it makes sense to add an online multiplayer aspect to that portion of the game. However, intercity trade is horribly buggy. You can initiate trade with another city and not see the results of this for several hours. Given that this mechanic is the foundation of the game's required online component, it's terrible execution severely damages the game from the outset.

Beyond that, the act of building up your own city features a wealth of bugs and poor design decisions as well. The agent-based simulation, while a cool idea, is extremely processor intensive. The average computer this game is designed for simply cannot handle enough agents to accurately simulate a city. Working within that constraint, Maxis has given us the smallest city maps to date for the franchise. They've said that they're the size of Simcity 4's medium maps, but in game this simply does not seem to be the case. You will run out of room, and despite what others have said, this is not a fun challenge to overcome. To make matters worse the regions have huge spaces between cities that mock your overcrowded city map and cause a fully developed region to look ridiculous in the process.

Additionally, the resource extraction and utilization mechanic is a truly odd addition to the franchise. I suppose in Soviet Russia it makes sense for a city to run a television factory, but it is simply out of place in Simcity. It would have made infinitely more sense to require the mayor of a resource-rich city to balance business, industrial, and environmental from a governmental perspective instead of allowing the player to open their own mining operation. Also, once the supply chain is set up selling electronics is game-breakingly profitable, to the tune of millions of simoleons per day.

I won't go into detail on the issue of DRM, but suffice it to say the forced online component would be a bad idea even if it worked properly. However, this game would also fail as a single-player game, so there really isn't anything of value lost due to the always-online restriction.…Expand

The game is fundamentally flawed. Both in design, concept and execution. Beyond the frankly unforgivable server issues at launch, the ridiculousness of online only gameplay for a single player experience, and the apualing response from EA. There are many issues with the game that run very deep into the core of its design, most of which frustratingly become noticeable after sinking (orThe game is fundamentally flawed. Both in design, concept and execution. Beyond the frankly unforgivable server issues at launch, the ridiculousness of online only gameplay for a single player experience, and the apualing response from EA. There are many issues with the game that run very deep into the core of its design, most of which frustratingly become noticeable after sinking (or wasting) several hours playing. The biggest grip I am seeing from people though is that the map size is too small. I agree, it soon becomes apparent that your most important resource by far is space to build. My fond childhood memories of build large sprawling metropolises and micro managing down to the finest details have been completely tarnished. This reboot is nothing short of an insult to the SimCity franchise and all those involved should be ashamed. (Unfortunately as we all know EA never learns)…Expand

Always on blatant DRM? Day one DLC with an EA guarantee for bucket loads of additional DLC? Tiny map sizes to crush your creative ability? All this and more in SimCity! Run the buggy and taxing Origin while playing! Watch as one of your favorite games gets ruined by a money grubbing corporation! Give EA all the money! And when all is said and done, and EA is tired of supporting the serversAlways on blatant DRM? Day one DLC with an EA guarantee for bucket loads of additional DLC? Tiny map sizes to crush your creative ability? All this and more in SimCity! Run the buggy and taxing Origin while playing! Watch as one of your favorite games gets ruined by a money grubbing corporation! Give EA all the money! And when all is said and done, and EA is tired of supporting the servers for some reason or another, you too can lose your ability to play the game you purchased!

Or, of course, you could just not buy the game. Maybe buy some other game like Tropico 4. Maybe show EA that they need to fix this crap they are doing. Maybe even do some pirating of the game once it is inevitably cracked. Anything to tell them that they've ruined the franchise. And maybe, just maybe, if the Sun and the Moon and Jupiter and Venus and Mars and Mercury all line up perfectly to the Earth and the center of the Galaxy, maybe EA will actually get around to changing some of the features to allow for people to have the proper playing experience. Personally, I'm not above purchasing the game if they actually went and fixed what was wrong. It'd show improvement, yeah?

I was so frustrated and annoyed with this game I took it back to the store and demanded a refund, apparently I was the 5th one that day!

This game is meant to be a single player with endless creativity, instead its pushed into a small box with lots of other people, I don't think minecraft would of done so well if it had gone down the same route.
Do you really think EA cares, all theyI was so frustrated and annoyed with this game I took it back to the store and demanded a refund, apparently I was the 5th one that day!

This game is meant to be a single player with endless creativity, instead its pushed into a small box with lots of other people, I don't think minecraft would of done so well if it had gone down the same route.

Do you really think EA cares, all they want is your money, so DEMAND a refund!…Expand

Aside from the server and always online issues. There are some major bugs in the game that need to get fixed as well. With more gamebreaking bugs being found every day it seems. Traffic is the number one issue, only a few people have managed to truly trick the simulator and keep a good traffic flow going. A normal city layout and traffic pattern will not work and you need to fool the simsAside from the server and always online issues. There are some major bugs in the game that need to get fixed as well. With more gamebreaking bugs being found every day it seems. Traffic is the number one issue, only a few people have managed to truly trick the simulator and keep a good traffic flow going. A normal city layout and traffic pattern will not work and you need to fool the sims into going the way you want them too. Not normal, but tricks are needed. Essential services are broken, Fire trucks will all respond to the same fire, leaving others burning. They will all then go to the next fire and so on. Pathfinding on these is also horrendous, watching wrong turns and u-turns abound. Busses will do the same thing, they will all take the same paths and stop at the same stops over and over again. Anything far away in a densely packed city may never see a bus, or all of them at the same time. Very odd. Anything over 100k city will only see around 10% actually doing anything. While your city is demanding more workers and more shoppers. There are many more, Aside from the server issues, this promised to be a good game. Digging into it, it is hopelessly broken. Simulation fails on just about every level one could imagine. Maybe they did it to make it harder to desing a functioning city, or that region play was to fill in the gaps, if only region play actually worked.…Expand

Electronic Arts recently informed people to stop promoting this game less than a week in stores, and while that speaks volumes, I'm here to share my own experiences with this game and the entire SimCity series. That experience goes all the way back April of 1990, when I started with SimCity Classic, and this was a game I loved that I played for hours upon hours. When I got SimCity 2000Electronic Arts recently informed people to stop promoting this game less than a week in stores, and while that speaks volumes, I'm here to share my own experiences with this game and the entire SimCity series. That experience goes all the way back April of 1990, when I started with SimCity Classic, and this was a game I loved that I played for hours upon hours. When I got SimCity 2000 in 1994, it was not only as addictive, but it was also better with the choice of density for Residential, Commercial, and Industrial zones (RCI as it's long since been dubbed) and signs to give names to streets and landmarks. SimCity 3000 (which I got in 1998) took away signs, and even without the arcologies that SimCity 2000 had, it was still an even better game and extremely fun to play. Then in 2004, i got the Deluxe Edition of SimCity 4, and the difficulty of the game made it less enjoyable, but I still had fun playing SC4, and really enjoyed everything that was right with the game. All of this changed in 2013 with the modern SimCity game!

Even with the always online feature, I figured I can at least play alone, because the box said so. Something the game's box does not have written on it, is that the saved game files are not stored on the player's computer, and the player as at the whim for when the game is saved., and I honestly never would have bought the game if only I had known these things. I've had computers break my heart because they were too underpowered for some games (or lacked hard drive space), but SimCity was truly the first video game to succeed in breaking my heart for being the exact opposite of what all other SimCity games were (and still are), which is a city builder to obsess over! Another thing with the modern SimCity game, is that it's also been the first game in nearly thirty years of video gaming that I gave up on before I could even play it. While I was ok with needing to be online to play at first, the difficult to access game servers (at least in the game's first week of release in America) clearly establishes a double standard: EA/Maxis expects players to always be online to play the game, but at the same time, players cannot expect the servers to always be online in order to play the game whenever they wish.

If any good comes out of this, I hope that the corporate suits realize what exactly is wrong with software that requires the user to always be online, and that software pirates are never going to go away. (Not that I'm a pirate or condone software piracy, but I've known about piracy going on for as long as I've first had a computer in 1986.)…Expand

As many others have stated, this could have been a great game. The developer (Maxis) and publisher (EA) had probably from the beginning planned for always-online DRM. That is, in order to play the game by yourself you must have a constant secure connection to EA's server. This puts you at the mercy of EA's hardware & IT team, something that is beyond yourAs many others have stated, this could have been a great game. The developer (Maxis) and publisher (EA) had probably from the beginning planned for always-online DRM. That is, in order to play the game by yourself you must have a constant secure connection to EA's server. This puts you at the mercy of EA's hardware & IT team, something that is beyond your control.---------------------------------------------------

Released on March 5th, it is now late afternoon March 12th and there are still major server issues. I am currently on West Coast 4 and am getting long que times trying to join, and it isn't even peak hours on the west coast. I can only assume the load will increase as most people get off work and arrive home in the next hour or two.--------------------------------------------------------

SimCity has traditionally been a single player game many people like to play around in for hundreds of real time hours. Since SimCity is "always multiplayer", in order to play by ones self you must create a region and set it to "Private" mode where only you or invited friends can join. The whole idea of that is counter-intuitive in the fullest. Instead of a traditional "Single Player" and "Multiplayer" button on the main menu that has worked for decades, Maxis forces you to click "Play" and enter the multiplayer screen. Someone not that initiated into how games work will find it frustrating to start a singleplayer game even though the "single player" is technically classified as private multiplayer.----------------------------------------

Maxis & EA are in full damage control public relations mode, all cheery smiles and apologies. Sadly, a large portion of the previously angry customer-base was easily bought with the offer of a free game. Instead of bombarding EA & Maxis with thousands of angry letters & emails demanding the removal of Online DRM and "Always multiplayer" nature of SimCity, they instead were bought off for around $60 and are now towing the line. They seem to think that companies releasing unfinished or highly flawed/untested products is A-ok, as long as they "pinky swear" to fix the game which the timeframe is never admitted. It could be 1 month or even two months before a game is fixed, but there will still be that large group of customers with unyielding blind faith, always ready to defend the happy, cheery gaming company that just recieved 60+ dollars from them for a buggy, non-working product.----------------------------- If you are wondering why game developers and publishers are getting away with extremely sloppy business practices, you need only look at the modern gamer. The customers are the problem because they do not vote with their wallets and protest in writing.--------------------------When you buy a new car, it usually comes with some kind of warranty. If your transmission for example blows seconds after your off the lot, they will replace it for free immediately. Conversely, you expect the car to be 100% working properly and built correctly when you buy it, and every car manufacturer does everything possible to make sure that happens long before you fork over the cash. The same MUST be true for all products or services. Mistakes do happen, but things of the magnitude of SimCity do not just happen accidentally. Someone somewhere made the decision that lower costs were more worth it than a working game. There will likely be bugs on all release of games, but we have the right to demand that their game work properly. In SimCity's case, it does not even work at all.-------------- Don't believe the public relations spin and the attempt to buy your sympathy and loyalty back. If you have any principles at all, for god sakes please make your integrity one of them. Show EA/Maxis that no, you cannot be simply be bought for $60. Demand they remove Online DRM, demand a deserved true Single Player, among various other small things.------ I rated this a 3 out of 10, only because in the extremely short time I have played the actual game, it is well done. Probably the biggest sadness of all is that underneath these unacceptable business practices, a good development team has produced a pretty awesome game.…Expand

As a fan of Maxis games since ~1988, and an excited follower of preview news leading up to the release of Simcity 5, I'll be reviewing this game based on my long-anticipated Day 1 gameplay experience: 0. 0, because I didn't buy it. 0, because I'm boycotting EA's latest in a long, colourful history of taking the complete piss of its customers and employees. 0, because I love SimCity, butAs a fan of Maxis games since ~1988, and an excited follower of preview news leading up to the release of Simcity 5, I'll be reviewing this game based on my long-anticipated Day 1 gameplay experience: 0. 0, because I didn't buy it. 0, because I'm boycotting EA's latest in a long, colourful history of taking the complete piss of its customers and employees. 0, because I love SimCity, but I am NOT going to be subjected to Always-Online DRM for single-player games, by EA or any other company in the industry. Decisions like this are terrible for the consumers and terrible for the industry I make games for a living, too, and my heart goes out to all the brilliant creative individuals who will have worked very hard on this game, only to have some money-filching, good-for-nothing corporate suits pull a stunt that would take all that effort and turn it into a product that's currently pulling a much-deserved 1.7 consumer rating on metacritic. And to top it all off, those same suits will now be pointing fingers and eyeing up the developers for deep budget cuts... which I sadly expect to be reading about on a respected gaming review site in a few months.

Shame on EA! And, apparently, EA honestly believes that some of us will buy their latest false claims that SimCity NEEDS the always-online DRM because the game “offloads a significant amount of the calculations to our servers”, and that it would take “a significant amount of engineering work from our team to rewrite the game” for single player. They obviously think we're all mouth-breathers! I have a latest-gen Intel i7 processor and 16gb ram I don't need their sodding "cloud" to "reticulate my splines", and for that matter, neither would my 3 year old laptop. They may be "offloading calculations" (including the algorithms for ethics and consumer rights) but they better "onload" those calculations back to local hardware like every other game, on the double, or I'll offload some calculations of my own, such as where their games get any consideration with respect to my wallet.

After trying to play this game for days, I gave up. This is the problem with EA, they cripple games so much that they are totally unusable. I remember thinking "I should not support EA", but I was so looking forward to a SimCity reboot that I didn't care. Turns out that I should have trusted my gut. This was a total waste of money.

Aside from all the server problems, the stupidly implemented DRM always online for a single player game etc etc ...

In contrast with other iterations of the game, this SimCity maxes out. There are no long term objectives you might have. You can max out your city in 4 hours, create another one, max it out in another 4 hours ad infinitum.
Whereas you could spend months tweaking yourAside from all the server problems, the stupidly implemented DRM always online for a single player game etc etc ...

In contrast with other iterations of the game, this SimCity maxes out. There are no long term objectives you might have. You can max out your city in 4 hours, create another one, max it out in another 4 hours ad infinitum.

Whereas you could spend months tweaking your cities in other versions, the replay value of this title gets old and boring REALLY fast & it all has to do with the size of the cities. It's a fantastic casual game (blah), not a full fledged SimCity like you were used to.…Expand

And yet another reason why DRM is a failed concept. Too bad though, despite my already negative opinion of EA, i might have probably bought this game sometime in the future. Instead of making quality games more affordable and accessible, EA's idea of fighting piracy is to make the game unplayable as a whole. You people could learn a thing or two from valve, since most of us have several,And yet another reason why DRM is a failed concept. Too bad though, despite my already negative opinion of EA, i might have probably bought this game sometime in the future. Instead of making quality games more affordable and accessible, EA's idea of fighting piracy is to make the game unplayable as a whole. You people could learn a thing or two from valve, since most of us have several, if not dozens of games installed on steam, all purchased legally. Another sad thing is that while this is happening, EA just started pulling more features from simcity as a way to make ammends for this god awful failure. I think we will all be expecting these features pulled to be released in a DLC for 19.99 later on in the future...…Expand

If you want to play a game for several hours, only to have your city go from 4k an hour in the black to 5k in the red all because the game has several serious bugs, and then to watch as your city goes bankrupt right before your eyes, then this is the game for you! Filled with required online-only DRM, even for single player, making it that you can't play this game when their servers areIf you want to play a game for several hours, only to have your city go from 4k an hour in the black to 5k in the red all because the game has several serious bugs, and then to watch as your city goes bankrupt right before your eyes, then this is the game for you! Filled with required online-only DRM, even for single player, making it that you can't play this game when their servers are down, or taken offline, for your convenience. Watch as you produce an overabundance of electricity and water while half your city leaves because the game won't update your power distribution in any reasonable amount of time. Seriously, this game is trash with all the bugs and online-only DRM. Don't buy it until they make it offline.…Expand

This release absolutely failed. Everything is bugged. I wonder, why other critics talking about, how game is so cool balanced, It's all a big lie. Problem is, you can build city without industry zone without any problem You don't have to even build commercial zones!!! How it's possible, they give it 100?

Size city limits are absurd. Having to be online all the time to play even alone is ridiculous. Lack of terraforming and custom regions is disappointing. The game play has been dumbed down to the point where there is no challenge. There are no difficulty levels, every game is the same. If you don't already have friends on Origin then it's impossible to find a game to play in. There is noSize city limits are absurd. Having to be online all the time to play even alone is ridiculous. Lack of terraforming and custom regions is disappointing. The game play has been dumbed down to the point where there is no challenge. There are no difficulty levels, every game is the same. If you don't already have friends on Origin then it's impossible to find a game to play in. There is no way to search for open games or reorder the game list to show available cities. Compared to Sim City 4 this game is garbage, I wish I hadn't even bought it. The only good thing about the game is that the graphics are pretty.…Expand

NEVER AGAIN!!! I will never again purchase anything from Origin, EA or Maxis. The always on DRM is simply unusable. I cannot even play my single player game because EA's servers are junk. A SINGLE PLAYER GAME!!! Say it with me... NEVER AGAIN!

Always online DRM, smaller, non-connected cities due to engine limitations, DAY 0 DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT, poor customer service and delivery of product (waited almost an hour to connect to my single player game), and a swath of simplifications in the gameplay that ruins it.

Game is literally unplayable due to EA's DRM scheme. After installing the game, and signing up for the Origin DRM system, I click on the Tutorial. It crashes the game and the game freezes when I try to restart it to try again. OK, next time I get on the game, I'm at a different menu that has a "Play Game" option. I click on that, it offers me a few choices of where I want to build myGame is literally unplayable due to EA's DRM scheme. After installing the game, and signing up for the Origin DRM system, I click on the Tutorial. It crashes the game and the game freezes when I try to restart it to try again. OK, next time I get on the game, I'm at a different menu that has a "Play Game" option. I click on that, it offers me a few choices of where I want to build my city. I figure out which one I like, and I get the message, "Unable to create your city at this time." This product is literally unplayable, I suggest everyone requests a refund, and then we'll think about trying this game again when it works. Also, LOL at the disconnect between user experience and reviewers on here scoring the game. How much are they paying the review site owners?…Expand

This game so far has been a waste of time and money. In the words of the IGN Launch Day Review "Who could possibly have predicted that SimCity would experience launch day problems due to its online requirement? Right: everyone. Everyone predicted that. With waiting an entire evening with my family watching the 20 minute clock counter go by for the 900th time and getting a whopping totalThis game so far has been a waste of time and money. In the words of the IGN Launch Day Review "Who could possibly have predicted that SimCity would experience launch day problems due to its online requirement? Right: everyone. Everyone predicted that. With waiting an entire evening with my family watching the 20 minute clock counter go by for the 900th time and getting a whopping total of 10 minutes of game play before the game crashed, I know that SimCity was not worth my hard earned money or the time to play it.…Expand

Just registered on this website to voice my strong criticism of always-online DRM that affects the single player mode of the game. Although any form of DRM is evil and should be resisted by us, the consumers, the fact that the single player mode of Simcity was designed to require a persistent connection to EA's servers is simply beyond belief. Electronic Arts, the biggest video gameJust registered on this website to voice my strong criticism of always-online DRM that affects the single player mode of the game. Although any form of DRM is evil and should be resisted by us, the consumers, the fact that the single player mode of Simcity was designed to require a persistent connection to EA's servers is simply beyond belief. Electronic Arts, the biggest video game publisher/developer in the world should know better. Don't buy this game; if you have, get a refund.…Expand

'Unable to create a city at this time. Please claim a city later.' is the only experience i'm getting from paying my money for this game. Help Center is broken. Getting Started tutorial is also broken! Avoid this game at all cost. 1/10 for the SimCity name.

If they would have called it 'SimCity Social I wouldn't have minded so much. As it stands, it's more like false advertising.

Let's go through this quickly: horrendous server issues, a pretty much unnecessary mandatory online only connection, almost facist DRM, tiny plots of land that are not much bigger than the village I live in, horrible right-angle 'freeway' connections, which areIf they would have called it 'SimCity Social I wouldn't have minded so much. As it stands, it's more like false advertising.

Let's go through this quickly: horrendous server issues, a pretty much unnecessary mandatory online only connection, almost facist DRM, tiny plots of land that are not much bigger than the village I live in, horrible right-angle 'freeway' connections, which are totally uneditable, huge swathes of land that are permanently out of reach, overcomplicated and completely unnecessary information on individual citizens (this isn't Tropico...), a permanently depleting water table, inability to restore cities (probably the thing I hate most about this game). I mean, the server issues and ridiculous price they expect people to pay for this game seem trivial compared to this.

For balance, i'll put the things I enjoy: curved roads (excellent!), tilt shift works pretty well, modular building is an excellent idea, the ability to share utilities and buildings between cities is BRILLIANT, some parts of the social experiment are quite interesting.

But it just isn't SimCity. That's what a lot of 'us' expected, and I think we were quite right too. It's not everyday that a game that has been as a good as dead for 10 years comes back to life. It's not everyday that this inspires such a huge reaction, and (fortunately) it's not everyday that a game that was previously a thoroughly fun, expansive and dare I say it adult experience gets reduced to a glorified Facebook game.

We as consumers have no one to blame but ourselves for continuing to buy EA products. You get what you pay for and each of us has gotten exactly what we bought. An online only game that you can't play and will be dead in a few years when EA decides they are no longer making money enough to keep the servers up. I am taking a stand here and now and vow this will never happen to me again.We as consumers have no one to blame but ourselves for continuing to buy EA products. You get what you pay for and each of us has gotten exactly what we bought. An online only game that you can't play and will be dead in a few years when EA decides they are no longer making money enough to keep the servers up. I am taking a stand here and now and vow this will never happen to me again. Who is with me?…Expand

This game is the steaming pile of raw sewage you would have been able to pump into neighboring cities had the game servers actually worked. EA has proved they simply care about the money and not the product. This games launch issues were worse than Diablo 3 and have not gotten any better. Sad EA ruined such a historic franchise.

well lets see, i may have been able to give this game a better score but since its now been out for almost 2 full days, i have yet to be able to play it for more then 20 minutes due to all the stupid errors and server issues. i though you guys ran a beta to prevent all this. good job EA, just know that i will NEVER, EVER, not in a million years, ever, pre-purchase one of your games. EVER!

No game which requires the user to be online and connected to external servers during solo play should ever receive a score above 0. This sort of invasive DRM must be stopped. We should not be forced into maintaining an outside connection for no other purpose than to assure some overly greedy and paranoid corporate executive that we are not criminals.

I beta tested this three times, what should have been a fun game has been completely ruined with the inability to play in single-player offline mode. The servers were fraught with problems even during the third beta, which was set up only to stress-test the servers. I am disappointed that they did not fix the issue even by launch day! The game itself is good (albeit not as great as itsI beta tested this three times, what should have been a fun game has been completely ruined with the inability to play in single-player offline mode. The servers were fraught with problems even during the third beta, which was set up only to stress-test the servers. I am disappointed that they did not fix the issue even by launch day! The game itself is good (albeit not as great as its former self), but DRM is so overwhelmingly intrusive that it is not even worth the $60. Also, they took out the subways and a bunch of other stuff...I understand people want to blame the execs but the out-of-touch marketers and programmers should also be blamed for nerfing this game.…Expand

I loved playing the betas and would probably love to play the game too except having shelled out for the deluxe edition I am still unable to play. Origin says I have played it for 9 hours haha! Three times I was able to get on the game crashed. Three others times I lost contact with the server and all progress on the game. I have had to use three different servers and can now no longerI loved playing the betas and would probably love to play the game too except having shelled out for the deluxe edition I am still unable to play. Origin says I have played it for 9 hours haha! Three times I was able to get on the game crashed. Three others times I lost contact with the server and all progress on the game. I have had to use three different servers and can now no longer access any of them as they are on busy servers. Now I cannot even connect to available servers. No Origin I have not had 9 hours of playing I have had what feels like days of frustration (and this is after I was only able to downlaod it 6 hours after launch). I am sorry to review like this but it is rubbish and I feel conned. EA, be very ashamed.…Expand

Im a prepurchaser and was not only let down by the launch, but as a loyal gamer was slapped in the face by this "always online" RDM ball and chain. I will not be supporting this type of RDM game again.

I just learned an $80 lesson, because I bought the Limited Edition, but failed to look at the requirements. Had I reviewed it properly, instead of assumed that the gaming software could be operated in a standalone mode, I would NOT have wasted my money. A vast majority of people in the U.S. still live in rural areas where internet is unavailable, too expensive or just down right crappy.I just learned an $80 lesson, because I bought the Limited Edition, but failed to look at the requirements. Had I reviewed it properly, instead of assumed that the gaming software could be operated in a standalone mode, I would NOT have wasted my money. A vast majority of people in the U.S. still live in rural areas where internet is unavailable, too expensive or just down right crappy. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME unless you have no problems staying on your internet connection the whole time. I wanted this game to have on my system so that I could play with it during travel or without the umbilical cord of the internet. What 'executive' decided on this modus operandi? Obviously some rich fat cat! ID10TS...…Expand

Pros
-Great City Simulator
-Graphics are nice
-Addictive Gameplay
Cons:
-Must always be connected to the internet for what is primarily a single player game
-Seriously issues at launch that cause people to be unable to play the game
-Not always obvious what you are doing wrong when building city
The serious launch issues combined with the fact that you always need to bePros
-Great City Simulator
-Graphics are nice
-Addictive Gameplay

Cons:
-Must always be connected to the internet for what is primarily a single player game
-Seriously issues at launch that cause people to be unable to play the game
-Not always obvious what you are doing wrong when building city

The serious launch issues combined with the fact that you always need to be connected to the internet even when you don't want to use any of the online features is a serious issue with this game. We cannot continue to allow developers to force us to be always connected.…Expand

This game is plagued with problems. First, the obvious: The server overload proves correct all the folks who have been screaming about the always needing to be connected to the servers. I wasn't worried about DRM and no local saves originally, assuming people were just being anti-EA alarmists and that the game would work fine for me, but I was wrong. While it's broken, I can't even play aThis game is plagued with problems. First, the obvious: The server overload proves correct all the folks who have been screaming about the always needing to be connected to the servers. I wasn't worried about DRM and no local saves originally, assuming people were just being anti-EA alarmists and that the game would work fine for me, but I was wrong. While it's broken, I can't even play a single player game which is all I want to do in Simcity anyway. That's stupid. I've also had the game crash a dozen times and lost progress. Also, EA is simply telling folks to use a different server if one is busy. A)They're all busy. B)The city you've put hours into doesn't transfer from one server to another, so you have to start all over if you use a different server. I also thought people were overstating how tiny the maps are, but again I was wrong. The map size is severely limiting. I've managed to make large cities, but they all just feel cramped and generic as you have to use every inch of space to get an even decent population. Do you really need skyscrapers to reach 60K citizens? What if I want to build my real-life home city? I can't. Also, I understand the idea of specialization and not needing to build a large amount of industrial or residential in every city, but I find myself constantly having to bulldoze hospitals and police stations (which I had to pay money for) just to make room to put new roads that allow greater density. (also, why can't I simply pave over a dirt road with a high density road? They're the same size). Lack of subways, lack of farms, lack of map size, lack of customization all feel like an eventual cash grab. There's going to be so much DLC for this game it should be free to play. Even the day one DLC is $10 just to make a few of your buildings look German and give you one special landmark. Save yourself some money and buy the eventual "game of the year" edition which will include more. By then the servers should be fixed... if they haven't shut them off by then rendering the game unplayable. I'm really disappointed overall. I've played Simcity from the beginning. While I think the game engine is incredibly impressive, the graphics and music are good and there are moments of brilliance when the game works well, the whole thing is brought down by attempts to maximize money gouging at every possible turn. It just seems like a good game ruined by a cynical cash-grab. Feel free to wreck new games EA, but why destroy a beloved game that's been sitting on the shelves untouched for ten years?…Expand

Traditionally Simcity has been a fun game to play in my spare time. I have anticipated looking forward to this game for a while.

However, the current incarnation is -not- enjoyably. The always on DRM which forces you to connect to servers to sit in a queue make this game un-playable at the moment.
There are ways to *play* if you don't mind playing on European or Oceanic servers,Traditionally Simcity has been a fun game to play in my spare time. I have anticipated looking forward to this game for a while.

However, the current incarnation is -not- enjoyably. The always on DRM which forces you to connect to servers to sit in a queue make this game un-playable at the moment.

There are ways to *play* if you don't mind playing on European or Oceanic servers, but any progress you make in the game will not carry over to American servers.

Once in there are annoying quirks and bugs within the game that can destroy your city building strategy, I.E. Recycling Plants being bugged and not picking up Recyclable items NO PROCESSORS for you!

Overall the potential is there for a fun game, but the always on DRM, server queues, constant server downtime, and gameplay bugs make this a terrible game for anyone.

There were other games which were released on 05-March that I would have bought over this in retrospect (I.E. MLB The Show).…Expand

What score would you give to a restaurant where the food was supposed to be pretty good, but instead of being served the meal you ordered, the waiter just tells you that you have to wait another half hour for the next 2 hours and then have to leave hungry because you never got a meal? And so, you leave to go to work and come back the next day and still are told that you need to wait a halfWhat score would you give to a restaurant where the food was supposed to be pretty good, but instead of being served the meal you ordered, the waiter just tells you that you have to wait another half hour for the next 2 hours and then have to leave hungry because you never got a meal? And so, you leave to go to work and come back the next day and still are told that you need to wait a half hours. What do you think the review for that meal should be?

Would you give it a "8" because you hear the meal is supposed to be pretty dang good or would it be the same score I am giving SimCity?

When the service (needing to be online to play single player) and the food (the game itself) are the same thing, you need to think about it. There is no excuse for it. If you cannot handle the initial brunt of people trying to use your product, it shouldn't have limitations that keep them from doing it.

I can't rate this game any higher as after 2 days, I still can't actually play it because there are other people playing it. I'm glad I didn't buy it for myself, but I feel bad that I have to lie to my friend who did buy it for me as a gift.…Expand

I don't believe the reasons EA gives for always-online-DRM.
PCs can handle definitely the calculations.
Cloud save should be optionally on top of local save just like "Steam".
This is EA's strategy to sell an online service model and DLC/microtransaction.
They should not have sold it at retail price.
This type of model is ok for free-to-play; not retail.
All the convolutions to makeI don't believe the reasons EA gives for always-online-DRM.
PCs can handle definitely the calculations.
Cloud save should be optionally on top of local save just like "Steam".
This is EA's strategy to sell an online service model and DLC/microtransaction.
They should not have sold it at retail price.
This type of model is ok for free-to-play; not retail.
All the convolutions to make a single player game to appear as an online multiplayer game to justify their model.…Expand

Always on DRM for a single player game. Unable to login to actually play. Brilliant idea EA, to sell a product that we are unable to use! Worthless way to prevent pirating. If any it will encourage it.

The Game itself is not bad at all. A bit glitchy, But overall quite nice. It gets difficult when your city becomes larger, and disasters seem to be rather frequent (once an hour?) However on the whole, it is a very enjoyable game to play. My Main complaint, however, is that I cant play it. Despite many assurances that this launch would go without a hitch, I was able to play for 2 hours onThe Game itself is not bad at all. A bit glitchy, But overall quite nice. It gets difficult when your city becomes larger, and disasters seem to be rather frequent (once an hour?) However on the whole, it is a very enjoyable game to play. My Main complaint, however, is that I cant play it. Despite many assurances that this launch would go without a hitch, I was able to play for 2 hours on release day before it crashed, and crashed, and crashed, then no longer allowing me to log in. There was a Beta to test load How did they get caught unaware? The preorder and Number of games shipped/printed should have been enough to allow them to predict load. next time, Stagger the launch date by location. Maybe this will help.

For this reason, I give it a zero, as I paid 60 dollars to be frustrated for 2 days, and for that, Ultimately, the entertainment value of this purchase was non existent. I'd rather have wasted the 60 dollars to go see all 4 twilight films in theater.

Always online for no reason, can't play at launch because of server queues for a largely single player game. Poor graphics, bugs, pathetically small "city" size. Should have called it SimTowns or SimNeighborhoods.

Yet another horrible design choice by the EA that yet again disguises a blatant DRM as a "game feature" Always connected alienates most users who like to enjoy a solo game and not sit in a queue for hours, EA has ruined many franchises and companies and runs a monopoly on everything that brings cash and not quality, and the fact that you can't progress in some parts of the game withoutYet another horrible design choice by the EA that yet again disguises a blatant DRM as a "game feature" Always connected alienates most users who like to enjoy a solo game and not sit in a queue for hours, EA has ruined many franchises and companies and runs a monopoly on everything that brings cash and not quality, and the fact that you can't progress in some parts of the game without help from other players is laughable

I've never liked EA mostly because of how the business is run, and how they've pocketed most companies i hold dear, Once again the pirates who download this illegally will have a good time playing single-player and the loyal paying costumer who care for the Sim city franchise gets to wait in queue and have to play on EA's low quality servers whom probably will be shut down in a few years, so it's like you're renting the game for a long time :D... I had hopes for this game, but thanks to users speaking their voices and telling it like it is, i will NEVER purchase this, and strongly consider not buying anything that EA has direct control over ever again, I may sound Cynical and angry, but the game may be as good as a 10/10 and i would still stand by these words, because the basic principle of how EA runs their companies is so ruthless sometimes, it's only good for a boycott, if i could go back in time i would cut the head of the growing beast that is EA and instead nurture indie and promising companies that can stand competition, most companies learned from past DRM fiasco's but not EA, that's my opinion anyway.…Expand

They have taken what could have been have been a gem and turned it into a proper turd! How in the heck are you supposed to play when the beyond trash servers are always busy or full? You can't save it so if you want to keep playing your city your stuck on the same server that never works, oh you want to switch servers that's cool, have fun starting over. You have to wait for the crappyThey have taken what could have been have been a gem and turned it into a proper turd! How in the heck are you supposed to play when the beyond trash servers are always busy or full? You can't save it so if you want to keep playing your city your stuck on the same server that never works, oh you want to switch servers that's cool, have fun starting over. You have to wait for the crappy server you were on to access your city. I knew always online DRM would suck but I had NOOOOO idea how bad! Had the game 2 days gotten in only a few hours, many less than I have spent trying to log on to a junk server to play a nice SINGLE Player game. I would rather actually PLAY the game than to be able to theoretically play with other people, which is impossible due to NEVER BEING ABLE TO LOG ON AND STAY ON. Do not buy, just wait until they get this trash sorted proper!…Expand

Assuming a persistent online connection is a guarantee of failure for this game that has been played solo for years, even decades. The forced multi-player design means you can't succeed if you try to play alone anyway. I was able to play for a few minutes before the game crashed due to server issues. Servers listed as "available" aren't and if you try to play on a different server fromAssuming a persistent online connection is a guarantee of failure for this game that has been played solo for years, even decades. The forced multi-player design means you can't succeed if you try to play alone anyway. I was able to play for a few minutes before the game crashed due to server issues. Servers listed as "available" aren't and if you try to play on a different server from your last game, you will have to start over with your mayoral duties nothing syncs between servers. Save yourself the and don't make the mistake that I did thinking that Simcity 2013 would be even remotely as awesome as SimCity 2000. Apparently some things DON'T get better with age.…Expand

Ok so we all know the game is unplayable at the moment. We paid $80 dollars for something we can't play. And there's only one way EA can get away with this. When the PSN was down for some months a few years ago, they came with the "welcome back" gift. An apology from the interruption of a FREE service. Now, EA has taken 80 DOLLARS from us and is not offering ANYTHING back. We should giveOk so we all know the game is unplayable at the moment. We paid $80 dollars for something we can't play. And there's only one way EA can get away with this. When the PSN was down for some months a few years ago, they came with the "welcome back" gift. An apology from the interruption of a FREE service. Now, EA has taken 80 DOLLARS from us and is not offering ANYTHING back. We should give them 2 weeks to sort out the problems and if they don't, we should flood them with demands to allow us to choose 2 or 3 games from their catalogue in Origin Store, FOR FREE. They won't refund us on SimCity, but at least they can take the high road just as Sony did.…Expand

Take the Critic Reviews with a HUGE grain of salt. These "professional" reviewers are very biased and want to stay on EA's good side. There have been too many documented cases of publishers influencing reviewers and we see it at play yet again.

The launch has been a disaster. My internet connection has been steady, but the servers are constantly going down. Lost multiple cities that theTake the Critic Reviews with a HUGE grain of salt. These "professional" reviewers are very biased and want to stay on EA's good side. There have been too many documented cases of publishers influencing reviewers and we see it at play yet again.

The launch has been a disaster. My internet connection has been steady, but the servers are constantly going down. Lost multiple cities that the game just doesn't save. The stability is absolutely horrible. This game drastically requires an offline mode. So far server stability for a single player game has been the biggest problem.

The game itself has some major issues also. The RCI isn't accurate at all. Many of the stats are inaccurate. The traffic design is illogical, firetrucks won't pass each other to get to a fire?! The city areas are not just small, they are tiny. The idea that it was system requirements keeping the size small is a lie. They are most likely going to try to sell larger city areas in the future as DLC.

Overall, I cannot recommend any one buying this game. It is a rip off right now because you can't even play the game, and if by chance you get on, the stability is horrible.…Expand

Ive seen some bad launches before but this launch takes the cake. The DRM is woeful not matter how much spin they put on it. Simcity is not a multiplayer game no matter what they say. "Always online" will ruin Maxis. The game is basic and looks pretty, when it works. Thats about it. Geez even the tutorial dosen`t work.

I haven't been able to play an uninterrupted 30 minutes over the last two days. This launch was disgraceful. These issues should have been easily cleared up with an open beta, staggered launch or more that TWO servers in North America at launch. Bye bye future business EA. I hate to be this nit-picky about the first two days, but if another business sold you something that took two days toI haven't been able to play an uninterrupted 30 minutes over the last two days. This launch was disgraceful. These issues should have been easily cleared up with an open beta, staggered launch or more that TWO servers in North America at launch. Bye bye future business EA. I hate to be this nit-picky about the first two days, but if another business sold you something that took two days to work, you would have taken it back light-years before you got to day two. EA should be ashamed.…Expand

The game itself isnt this bad, but the use of DRM for an experience which should clearly be one player is disgusting. I could live with the pathetic cant connect to server errors if I could play it single player while waiting for them to resolve their issues, but my patience has been worn thin by these greedy fools and their always online foolishness. From now on, any single player gameThe game itself isnt this bad, but the use of DRM for an experience which should clearly be one player is disgusting. I could live with the pathetic cant connect to server errors if I could play it single player while waiting for them to resolve their issues, but my patience has been worn thin by these greedy fools and their always online foolishness. From now on, any single player game with an always online requirement will automatically fall into the "Do Not Buy" category, even if its a classic.…Expand

Sim City could have been great. But the game beeing impossible to play and the non-existent answers and explanations from EA/Maxis are unacceptable. Do we want to support a company that doesnt care about customers? How many calories would it have taken EA to come forward with an official statement about the state of the game and when we will be able to play it. No, stay away from this title.

Made it thru the tutorial on sim city after my second try. Then the servers decided they did not want to work, AGAIN. It's 2 am and it's now day 3 of this game being out. Totally unacceptable. EA has lost a customer permanently.

Their is really no better way to put this, Will Wright enjoyed portions of the game itself, but his lack of actual experience in the franchise or activity "creating" outside of the original has long since past. So typically, when compared to previous entries in the franchise, this title is basically a turd wrapped in incredibly tasty bacon- Great on the outside, but the core mechanics ofTheir is really no better way to put this, Will Wright enjoyed portions of the game itself, but his lack of actual experience in the franchise or activity "creating" outside of the original has long since past. So typically, when compared to previous entries in the franchise, this title is basically a turd wrapped in incredibly tasty bacon- Great on the outside, but the core mechanics of the game are a massive step back from the established concepts. The tragedy of all of this, is that EA is likely to not take any feedback whatsoever from the reactions on sites like metacritic and will continue to release expansion/ content packs in a vain attempt to tie Simcity to "The Sims. trilogy." Very little good comes from games that are released in this form, DRM, Online Only and I own a lot of software these days. The twist is that titles I've payed good money for that use this methodology are actually titles I don't bother to play anymore hardly at all. Of course software companies do not care, they already have my money and really we should be the consumers to spot this lunacy and stop it on our own. The irony is piracy, with its foreshadowed "end" near according to the six strikes rule, couldn't be a better example of the people that are still getting the better product overall. I own all the Simcity games, I own all of the Sims games up to the second one and its just astonishing to see backlash like this go unheeded once again. You'd think a company like EA would learn from follies like "Spore," but even years after that disastrous release, they still commit to this absurd idea that a good percentage of us don't want to be legitimate customers. Their are more people than ever purchasing software (in the middle of a recession- I may add) and yet these once "industry leaders" offer very little respect to the consumer base they rely on for everything. Piracy isn't the only way to understand why a game is floundering after release and much like Diablo III, the end result will be the same with such ridiculous security standards. Was I excited when Diablo III was announced featuring constant "online activation" at all times just so I could play it? Of course not. It garnered no interest from me regardless of such silly anti-piracy measures. I enjoyed Diablo and its sequel, namely because they were solid games that were received well by most people when they came out. Did I enjoy the Warcraft series? Of course and does that mean that I'm a filthy pirate for not purchasing World of Warcraft or even playing it? I guess what I'm merely suggesting is, if the interest is there- than a sale they would see. These companies pump up their advertising for these games, get Will freakin' Wright to comment on it, and it still ends up being a terribly average game. Meanwhile, Tomb Raider is actually pretty solid, and you can bet that I will be purchasing that game fairly soon. Meanwhile, another city builder game that hardly even builds from its former will never get my attention or my sale. It certainly won't be getting pirated either.…Expand

Game seems fun, by the 30-minutes or so i've gotten to play (maximum!). Been looking forward to this game for a long time.

But in this state with the unavailable servers and constant disconnection, no way. One would think that they would have beefed up on servers to meet the demand. I mean, come on. It's 2013.
Drop this DRM-crap and let us choose to play offline if we want to. Or doGame seems fun, by the 30-minutes or so i've gotten to play (maximum!). Been looking forward to this game for a long time.

But in this state with the unavailable servers and constant disconnection, no way. One would think that they would have beefed up on servers to meet the demand. I mean, come on. It's 2013.

Drop this DRM-crap and let us choose to play offline if we want to. Or do the game launch right.…Expand

I bought this game and haven't been able to play it at all because no server can handle the load. It's not even possible to play a single player game or go through the tutorial, which shouldn't need an internet connection, because the game has been downloaded and installed to my computer. A very bad decision to require connection to the EA servers all the time when they can't guaranteeI bought this game and haven't been able to play it at all because no server can handle the load. It's not even possible to play a single player game or go through the tutorial, which shouldn't need an internet connection, because the game has been downloaded and installed to my computer. A very bad decision to require connection to the EA servers all the time when they can't guarantee that the servers are up.…Expand

Paid $99 for a deluxe edition of what is essentially an unplayable game. Toggling between different servers doesn't help. I either, a) could not connect or b) could not "claim" a city. Nice job EA, for treating your customers like criminals over the DRM stuff.

The game has a lot of problems. Only one of them actually matters. Never support always online DRM for a single player game. Lots of people cannot play their single player game because of this and gamers need to do everything they can to stop developers from including it.

This is an update to my review. After two days of not being able to play due to server issues, I finally was able to press the play button about 10 minutes ago. When I pressed play the game instantly crashes. As I played the beta I reported that this game IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH CROSSFIRE, and that it at least should be compatible even if it doesn't utilise it. I can see they did notThis is an update to my review. After two days of not being able to play due to server issues, I finally was able to press the play button about 10 minutes ago. When I pressed play the game instantly crashes. As I played the beta I reported that this game IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH CROSSFIRE, and that it at least should be compatible even if it doesn't utilise it. I can see they did not read my comment or didn't care, so without thinking to turn off crossfire, I excitedly pressed play and it crashes. Now I'm waiting again in the server queue to play what is ostensibly is a SINGLE PLAYER GAME. Seriously why can't we give negative reviews? And why in the heck are the "critic" reviews so positive? Do they have access to special servers or what? This game is such a disappointment to me as I loved every SimCity game (even Simcity 4 with its horribly inefficient engine!).…Expand

I can probably get over launch issues as I did during the D3 launch, but the fact that you can barely build a in this game is outrageous. The smallest map in SC4 is like 4-8 times larger than a 2x2 SimCity map. This is not a game I desired for. This is merely a cretin facebook-style game in a 3d decorations.

Lots of fun playing but the server problems are extremely frustrating considering there is no real time interaction with other players. This game should have been single player offline capable, the fact that it is online only is an enormous downside.

Always online DRM is a terrible idea! Learn from Diablo 3 and stop making games like this because people will stop buying these games. EA needs to rethink this business model and SINGLE PLAYER game setup. Wake up people, this stuff is garbage.

This game gets a 0 cause you can't even play it. I can log in time after time and the server is always down or when it's up I can't create a game. When trying to switch servers the game crashes. Had this game since 3/5 and have been able to play for 5 minutes. I will not be buying another PC game from EA. This completely ridiculous! I want my money back cause I have paid for aThis game gets a 0 cause you can't even play it. I can log in time after time and the server is always down or when it's up I can't create a game. When trying to switch servers the game crashes. Had this game since 3/5 and have been able to play for 5 minutes. I will not be buying another PC game from EA. This completely ridiculous! I want my money back cause I have paid for a product I cannot use.…Expand

The rating of a game is tied to the actual playability and enjoyability of the game, not the theoretical potential of the game. Sim City LE is unplayable, constant server issues and multi-hour wait queues to connect. I'm rating this game a 0 because if I cannot play it, it has 0 value to me as entertainment.

To those who say "separate the game from the server issues and rate the game"The rating of a game is tied to the actual playability and enjoyability of the game, not the theoretical potential of the game. Sim City LE is unplayable, constant server issues and multi-hour wait queues to connect. I'm rating this game a 0 because if I cannot play it, it has 0 value to me as entertainment.

To those who say "separate the game from the server issues and rate the game" I say to you "I rate a movie on how much we enjoy it when we watch it. I rate a book on how it reads when I read it. I rate games on how much we enjoy it when we play it. When i sit down and click to play Sim City, I have an hour of frustration and anger and then give up and wish I'd never given EA my money again. So the rating is fair based on the experience of owning and trying to play the game,…Expand

All server problems aside; This game lacks most of the features that made previous simcity games so great. The city size is a big joke, always online DRM is resulting in people not being able to play the game, losing savegames and a whole list of drama. Terraforming is out... Agriculture is out... modding is out... but I'd say the city size is the biggest mistake they've made. You can makeAll server problems aside; This game lacks most of the features that made previous simcity games so great. The city size is a big joke, always online DRM is resulting in people not being able to play the game, losing savegames and a whole list of drama. Terraforming is out... Agriculture is out... modding is out... but I'd say the city size is the biggest mistake they've made. You can make a village at best but don't expect to make the huge scale cities like you're used to in SC4 for example. The modding scene is what made simcity 4 immortal. Obviously this has been taken out to suck more money out of you through DLC. I'm sorry to say... but SimCity is now officially dead. Back to the great modding community over at simtropolis and playing a REAL simcity…Expand

Incredibly sad release. I was permitted to download my $60 purchase 3 hours after release. Then, I was not able to play my game for about 2 days because of "server issues." Keep in mind, this is SimCity, a single player game. If you have any Internet issues whatsoever, you will lose all your progress. The game must always be hooked up to EA. Worst. Idea. Ever. If you do have 99.8%+Incredibly sad release. I was permitted to download my $60 purchase 3 hours after release. Then, I was not able to play my game for about 2 days because of "server issues." Keep in mind, this is SimCity, a single player game. If you have any Internet issues whatsoever, you will lose all your progress. The game must always be hooked up to EA. Worst. Idea. Ever. If you do have 99.8%+ Internet connection quality, you will still lose everything because the EA servers will become "overloaded" and shut down. That's where you are forced to save everything. You might be lucky to connect to a different server, but you must REDO EVERYTHING because data does not synchronize between servers. That includes the tutorial. Like starting a brand new game. God awful launch and DRM and design. Epic fail for EA and Maxis. I heard SimCity had new disasters. Pretty much everything about it.…Expand

Do not buy this Trash of a game, EA does not deserve to be a company for this, makes me never want to buy another game from them again. Thanks for nothing... sigh should have bought crack with the 60 dollars...

Absolutely devastated the new Sim City, which looked so good, is lumbered with always online DRM. Even if they claim the servers are fixed, I am in a constant state of wondering if it will cut out again. Not an enjoyable experience. Will return to EB and get something else.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
The farthest I could get was the tutorial loading screen, something smart and funny about "herding llamas", I think. But EA made something even smarter, they herded us and our wallets. Spoiler alert "THIS JUST SUCKS!"…Expand

Please, do not waste your money on this travesty. I don't generally bother writing reviews, but if you pay for this game you will not be able to play it. EA will accept your money and then deny you what you paid for. Please save your money for something else and do not make the same mistake I did and assume that a large, profitable company would not cut so many corners that they will takePlease, do not waste your money on this travesty. I don't generally bother writing reviews, but if you pay for this game you will not be able to play it. EA will accept your money and then deny you what you paid for. Please save your money for something else and do not make the same mistake I did and assume that a large, profitable company would not cut so many corners that they will take your money and then not allow you to play what should have been a single player game.…Collapse